bickart et al - social media brand following

1 Bickart, Kim, Pai, and Brunel

12 H O W SO C I A L M E DI A IN F L U E N C E RS BUI L D A BR A ND F O L L O W IN G B Y SH A RIN G SE C R E TS Barbara Bickart, Soyean Kim, Seema Pai, and F rdric Brunel

In a post on his blog /LYH


group and seek to inform how and why bloggers, and other influencers, might share

secrets online.

Even though there are potential positive consequences to sharing secrets, there are also

significant risks. First, as people try to become influencers and opinion-leaders and build

themselves as brands, they give up privacy in exchange for celebrity (Belk 2013) and

thus revealing intimate details or secrets can cost obvious further loss of personal privacy.

Second, it can be argued that many secrets should remain undisclosed because disclosure

may lead to personal embarrassment and the disapproval of others (e.g., Bok 1983;

Larson and Chastain 1990; Stiles 1987; Wegner and Erber 1992), thereby nullifying the

positive effects of sharing intimate details. In the offline world, this concern over

disapproval (or rejection) functions as a barrier, which prevents individuals from being

fully open about their secrets (Kelly 1998; Kelly and McKillop 1996). Yet, because of

increased anonymity as well as the physical and interpersonal distancing that the online

medium provides, these downsides may not seem so extreme. Although in our context the

opinion leader is usually known, the audience members typically are not known by the

blogger; there is no direct face to face interaction: and the relationship between an

DXGLHQFHPHPEHUDQGWKHEORJJHULVPRUHLPDJLQHGrather than one based on actual

interactions. Therefore, using the relative cloak of anonymity and distancing provided by

online communication, influencers may share deep and sometimes dark secrets with total

strangers in a bid to increase their persuasiveness and better connect with their audience.

Anecdotally at least, this seems to be true. For example, it has been suggested that

individuals frequently share their emotions, fears, and wishes, and disclose every intimate


detail of their lives on their blogs, Facebook posts, and Twitter mentions (Feiler 2014;

Fowler 2012).

In this chapter, we examine when and why these influencers share secrets online. Based

on an exploratory survey with 48 bloggers and the literature on secret sharing, we

examine the use of secret sharing as a strategy for audience building. We then describe

the types of secrets that influencers disclose, as well as their motives for sharing these

secrets and the emotions associated with this behavior. Past research on secret sharing

suggests that people share secrets primarily to unburden themselves and gain validation

and support from others, as well as to build stronger relationships (Derlega and Grezelak

1979). Our findings support that online influencers share secrets primarily to build their

brand following (increase their influence, gain the loyalty of their audience and build the

size of their audience), and we find little evidence, if any, that secret sharing is

consciously used to unburden and cleanse the soul. Therefore, based on what bloggers

are willing or able to admit, it seems that online influencers share secrets for strategic

reasons rather than for improving their own psychological well-being.

The chapter is organized as follows. First, we define what a secret is. We then discuss our

survey methodology. We look at the results of our survey in the light of what is already

known about secret sharing in the social psychology literature. Finally, we discuss secret

sharing as a personal brand building tool and directions for future research.

What Is a Secret?


According to the Oxford DictionaryDVHFUHWLVGHILQHGDVVRPHWKLQJWKDWLVQRWPHDQWWR

EHNQRZQE\RWKHUV Similarly, psychologists define a secret as information that is

deliberately kept hidden from other people (Margolis 1974). Anything that exists, either

in the real physical world or in the imagination, can become a secret, whether they are

facts, feelings, observations, or objects, as long as they are consciously hidden from

others (Wismeijer 2011). Context can also affect what is perceived to be a secret. For

example, a person may be comfortable disclosing identifying information (such as an

address or phone number) to a friend or colleague, while, in an online context, they may

want to keep this information secret. Likewise, art critics are free to discuss the ending of

a show among themselves, but are professionally bound to keep it a secret when they

write about it in a public forum.

Some researchers conceive of DVHFUHWDVDFWLYHLQKLELWLRQRIGLVFORVXUHHJ

Pennebaker 1989). A secret, however, is not merely the opposite of self-disclosure (i.e.,

the act of revealing personal information to others) (Collins and Miller 1994) because the

secret keeping process feels burdensome and stressful (Pennebaker 1989; 1990). It is

therefore an effortful process that requires cognitive and emotional resources (Frijns

2005; Lane and Wegner 1995; Wegner 1989; 1992; 1994; Wegner, Lane, and Dimitri

1994), while not disclosing personal information does not require such efforts. In other

words, GLIIHUHQWIURPVHOI-GLVFORVXUHLQKLELWLRQthe secret keeping process requires

individuals to exert energy and resources to ensure that the secret can be kept hidden

from others.


To summarizeDVHFUHWLVJHQHUDOO\GHILQHGDVDFRQVFLRXVDQGHIIRUWIXOSURFHVVRI

social selective information exchange that requires cognitive resources and that can be

experienced as an emotional EXUGHQ:LVPHLMHU308). A secret indicates not only

a secret keeping process, but also that information is kept hidden.

Having defined what a secret is, we go on to investigate secret sharing by influencers in

online settings. The goal of our study is to find out how bloggers think about secret

sharing, whether they do it, what constitutes a secret in their mind, why they do it, and

how they feel about it.

Study

To examine these issues, we conducted an exploratory survey of a convenience sample of

bloggers. Bloggers represent one type of online influencer. A complete and accurate

VDPSOLQJIUDPHRIEORJJHUVGRHVQRWH[LVWVRZHFUHDWHGDOLVWXVLQJWRSEORJOLVWVLQ

different domains. The blog categories included lifestyle/fashion, parenting, health and

fitness, sports and recreation, theater, pets, cooking, photography, and self-help. We

limited our sample frame to blogs that were primarily managed by an individual (versus a

FROODERUDWLYHEORJOLNHWKHThe Daily BeastDQd the categories selected tend to fit this

criterion. A research assistant visited blogs on the lists and, whenever possible, identified

the name of the primary blogger and an email address. Through this process we were

able to compile a list of 208 bloggers with names and email addresses. Of these, twelve

email addresses did not work.


A Qualtrics survey was sent by email to the bloggers. In addition, two reminder emails

were sent to those who had not yet completed the survey. Participants were offered a

chance to win a $100 Amazon gift card for their participation. We obtained 48 complete

responses, with a final response rate of 24%. To assess selection bias, we compared the

distribution of blog topics among final respondents and the original list. There was some

selection bias. Specifically, we had a higher response rate from theater and pet bloggers,

and a relatively lower response rate from fashion/lifestyle bloggers.

Survey Description

Bloggers were asked to participate in a survey about how they connect with their

audiences. The survey included questions about their strategies to communicate with their

audience, whether or not they share secrets, and examples of secrets shared, motives for

sharing secrets and emotions experienced when sharing secrets. The survey took

approximately ten minutes to complete.

Sample Description

In terms of audience size, the blogs in the sample reported having between 100 and 8

million visitors per month, with a median audience of 12,000. About 47% of blogs had

between 5,000 and 50,000 visitors per month. In terms of the types of blogs, the most

common categories were performing arts/theatre (30%), lifestyle/fashion (17%), followed

by personal development and health and fitness (both 13%) and pet (11%). Other

categories included food and cooking, sports and recreation, and parenting.


About 49% described their audience as primarily female, and 49% as both male and

female. Fifty-seven percent of the participants acknowledged that they made money

from their blog, with 22% of those claiming the blog as their primary source of income.

Seventy-eight percent of the participants were between the ages of 21 and 50, and about

two thirds (64%) were female.

F indings

Do Online Influencers Share Secrets?

There are challenges to measuring the prevalence of secret sharing by online influencers.

First, what may seem like a secret to some is not a secret to others. Second, what

constitutes a secret in an online context where influencers are often communicating with

strangers may be different from what constitutes a secret in an offline context. Finally,

influencers may not want to admit to sharing secrets because this behavior may

potentially break a social rule (e.g., polite conversation norms might dictate that secret

sharing be avoided so as to not embarrass ones self or the audience) or is a transgression

of a professional code of conduct. We attempted to address this issue in our survey by

first asking participants an open-ended question about how they connected with their blog

audience, followed by a question asking whether they used a specific set of

communication strategies, including various forms of personal disclosures/secret-sharing.

For the open-ended question, we asked influencers how they built a connection with their

audience and had them list up to three different strategies. Approximately 27% of the

participants listed some form of personal disclosure as one of their connection strategies.


6RPHLOOXVWUDWLYHFRPPHQWVLQFOXGHGWHOOLQJVWRULHVDERXWSHUVRQDOH[SHULHQFHV

VKRZLQJYXOQHUDELOLW\VKDULQJIUXVWUDWLQJDQGGLIILFXOWPRPHQWVDQGsharing a mix

RISHUVRQDOGHWDLOVWhile not all of these responses strictly constitute secret sharing,

they do indicate a desire to reveal personal information to connect with the audience.

Other common strategies included interacting with the audience members via the

comment system and asking and answering questions to stimulate conversation (54%),

the use of multiple social media platforms to engage with their audience members (44%),

developing an interest in whatever topics their readers are interested in and tailoring their

content accordingly (29%), and being honest and authentic (17%). Interestingly, a desire

for honesty and authenticity can probably also lead to secret sharing as it would imply

reduced inhibition and lesser impression management.

Additional evidence that secret sharing occurs comes from our close-ended responses.

We asked people to rate the frequency with which they used a list of strategies to

communicate with their audience on a scale of 1 to 7 with 1 being Never and 7 being

Very Frequently. Table 1 shows the mean values for all of the strategies on the list.

----------------------------- Insert table 1 about here

-----------------------------

We conducted a factor analysis of these items and the five starred items in Table 1 loaded

on a single factor that explained 26% of the overall variance. We interpret this factor as

disclosure of private information and details. A high score on this factor is not evidence

of secret sharing in a strict sense. However, it is evidence that these respondents rely on

disclosure of personal details as a communication strategy. From the means, it is clear


that WKHVHZHUHDPRQJWKHPRVWFRPPRQVWUDWHJLHVXVHGSDUWLFXODUO\VKDULQJRQHVRZQ

personal point of view and disclosing private DQGLQWLPDWHGHWDLOVDERXWRQHVOLIH.

Finally, when asked explicitly if they had ever shared a secret with their social media

audience, 19% of the respondents said yes. This question differentiates secret sharing

from mere information disclosure by allowing the respondents to determine what does or

does not constitute a secret. In addition, while we are limited by the small sample size,

we do see a (non-significant) tendency for bloggers who make money from their blogs to

admit to secret sharing more (22%) than those who do not (15%). This finding suggests

that as the potential risks and financial consequences of turning-off an audience

increase, bloggers do not SOD\LWVDIHDQGVHFUHWVKDULQJLVDWOHDVWDVLIQRWPRUH

prevalent in moneymaking blogs, suggesting that secret sharing is not viewed as having

major downsides. We also constructed a scale using the five starred items in Table 1. We

find that the respondents who said that they shared secrets scored significantly higher on

this disclosure of private information scale (M = 5.56) versus those who said they did not

(M = 4.47, F 1, 46 = 6.55, p < .01). Our results suggest that as bloggers and online

influencers seek to build their personal brand and following, they use disclosures of

intimate personal information, and that, for a subset of these people, this means sharing

information they consider to be a secret. In addition, we have some evidence that these

are deliberate strategies rather than accidental disclosures.

What are the Different Types of Secrets?


We find that although many respondents reported engaging in the disclosure of intimate

and personal information, when asked specifically whether or not they had shared a

secret, only nine participants said yes. Therefore, there may be a semantic distinction

between what constitutes a secret in the eyes of these online influencers versus the more

general conceptualizations of secrets that one may encounter in the perception of the

broader population. These influencers are people with a very public personal brand and

persona, and thus that fact alone has likely shifted the barrier between the private and the

public domain, making them less likely to consider something disclosed to be a secret.

When one lives in the public eye, one trades off privacy for fame (Belk 2013) and thus

has fewer secrets. Further, with every instance of personal disclosure, bloggers might

raise the bar for what they consider to be a secret. Thus, over time, it becomes more

difficult for them to even think about past instances when they shared a secret since that

category gets smaller over time.

To better understand the types of secrets shared by our online influencers, we asked them

to list an example of a secret they had shared. Among the participants who said that they

shared a secret with their social media audience, we found three general types of secrets.

The largest category (5 out of 9) were secrets regarding physical or mental health; most

of these were conditions where there was the possibility of social stigma, such as eating

disorders and/or mental health issues. The second category constituted secrets about

relationships. Here again, there were some extreme examples including personal abuse.

The final category was revealing spoilers to an audience about shows prior to airing.

Revealing this information could be perceived as a violation of professional norms, in


particular, depending on how that information was obtained. For instance, one blogger

was able to get spoilers about a television show by covertly photographing the set. Our

findings are consistent with work suggesting that secrets are likely to indicate negative or

stigmatizing personal information about the secret keepers (Norton, Feldman, and Tafoya

1974) since people have a tendency to hide their most traumatic, embarrassing, or

disturbing personal experiences and to report them as their secrets.

In addition, we included a closed-ended list of different types of secrets that people might

share on social media. The nine people who indicated that they had shared a secret with

their audience indicated whether or not they had shared a secret of each type. The three

biggest categories (6 people each) were secrets about their family, secrets about a

relationship, and a personal confession. This finding is somewhat surprising given that

across various ranges of topics, researchers find that sexual secrets and the desire for a

romantic relationship are considered as the most secretive personal information (e.g., Hill

et al. 1993; Kelly 1998; Kelly et al. 2001). Other research on online sharing shows that

while anonymity may not be the main driver (or motive) of online secret sharing, it

certainly stimulates individuals to share their private details more freely online (Barak

and Ofri 2007; Suler 2004). It is possible that this relative anonymity and physical

distancing are enabling our respondents to reveal these types of secrets to their audience.

We also find that people are less likely to share secrets regarding their work life or gossip

about other people. Overall, our findings indicate that the secrets shared by these

influencers tend to be very self-focused, suggesting that they may be wary of implicating

others, and that whatever social benefit might be derived from sharing secret, it is mainly


obtained by providing new information about the self. For the blog categories in our

VDPSOHYLRODWLQJRWKHUSHRSOHVSULYDF\ZRXOGGHWUDFWIURPEXLOGLQJRQHVRZQSHUVRQDO

brand. Therefore, if secrets are to be shared, they are likely to be about the self or an

abstract target object.

Why Do People Share Secrets?

As previously discussed, the notion of secret implies an overt effort to conceal. At some

point, however, individuals may decide to share a secret, and thus the information is no

ORQJHUVHFUHWfor the recipient. Therefore, it is interesting to understand why people

might abandon their previous concealment strategy and opt for disclosure. Psychologists

have found that the sharing of secrets is driven mainly by five motives: self-clarification,

social validation, social control, expression, and relationship development (Derlega and

Grezelak 1979). The self-clariILFDWLRQPRWLYHVWHPVIURPDFRPPXQLFDWRUVQHHGWR

recognize his or her position%\WHOOLQJRQHVSULYDWHVWRU\WRRWKHUVSHRSOHFDQFODULI\

their thinking and views. People can also tell secrets for social validationthat is, to

confirm their sense of being and self-esteem through how they are viewed by others.

Further, secret sharing can be a form of social currency, and thus acts as a type of social

control that can be used to reward and control the behaviors of others. In addition, the

motive for expression suggests that disclosing personal emotional events to others is a

compelling human need or impulse (Rim 1995; Tait and Silver 1989). People frequently

share their secrets simply because they cannot resist the urge to share, responding to their

need for expression and unburdening. Finally, given the human need to belong or connect

to a group or community (Baumeister and Leary 1995), a basic motive for sharing secrets


is to develop relationships (e.g., Wismeijer 2011). By making themselves vulnerable to

others, people may seek to build trust and thus stronger relationships. This relationship

building often implicates norms of reciprocity, where parties to a relationship reciprocate

WKHFRXQWHUSDUW\VVHFUHWVKDULQJWRGHYHORSDQHTXLWDEOHLQWLPDWHERQG A secondary

motive associated with relationship building is a motive to draw on one of the main

benefits of a strong relationshipthe ability to gain help or support from others.

,QRUGHUWRGLVFHUQWKHRQOLQHLQIOXHQFHUVPRWLYHVIRUVHFUHWVKDULQJZHDVNHGour

informants to list in an open-ended question the reasons for sharing the secret that they

had previously described. In addition, we also had them rate a list of sixteen possible

motives on a 7-point Not at all Important / Important scale (see Table 2).

We did not see any evidence of either self-clarification or social validation as a motive

for secret-sharing within our sample, nor did our influencers talk about sharing secrets

simply out of a compelling need to express themselves. Of the five motives suggested in

the literature, the only motive that directly fits our data is the relationship development

motive. Relationship development is achieved by two main strategieshelping others

and building trust with the audience. For example, one blogger stated sharing secrets

online, helped my readers understand that they are not alone and to gain their trust,

while another said, ,IHOW,KDGDQKRQHVWUHODWLRQVKLSZLWKWKHDXGLHQFH,KDGEXLOWDQG,

WKRXJKWGLVFORVLQJP\VWRU\ZRXOGEHDKHOSWRRWKHUV Another respondent replied,

(YHU\WKLQJ,VKDUHLVWRKHOSRWKHUVOHDUQIURPWKHVLWXDWLRQ,GRQWH[SRVHIRUVKRFN


value. I won't write about a difficult or private situation unless I can share what I've

OHDUQHGWKDWFDQEULQJPRUHKDSSLQHVVLQWRSHRSOHVOLYHV

In addition to the motives discussed in the secret sharing literature, our data highlights

another motive for secret-sharing that seems unique to online influencers, namely a desire

to create unique or novel content. Per our data, respondents tended to share secrets that

were about under-shared or under-discussed topics, which, in turn, enabled them to create

unique content that differentiates their blog from other websites and helps to build their

personal brand. For instance, one respondent mentioned that, 7KHUHVDORWRIFOLQLFDO

LQIRUPDWLRQUHJDUGLQJSUHJQDQF\DYDLODEOHEXWOHVVVKDULQJDERXWHPRWLRQDOVWUXJJOHV

Another blogger had WKLVWRVD\UHJDUGLQJWKHLUPRWLYDWLRQEHKLQGVKDULQJDVHFUHWI felt

it would provide an interesting perspective on DWRSLFWKDWLVUDUHO\GLVFXVVHGRSHQO\ A

related, but slightly different, example of secret sharing that enables the creation of

unique content is providing impersonal information that the audience would not be privy

to otherwise. For example, multiple theater bloggers mentioned providing plot endings or

spoilers to shows prior to actual public performance or airing. While these types of

spoilers might be perceived as a breach as of professional conduct in some instances, they

are also another avenue through which bloggers can add value for their audience.

The responses to the closed-ended list (shown in Table 2) are consistent with the above.

Two out of the three highest rated reasons are about relationship building (e.g., to build a

relationship with my audience, to be more closely connected to my audience). In

addition, the highest rated reason was to be authentic. In social media, authenticity can


be considered the Holy Grail of brand relationship building and persuasion. Additionally,

in contrast to existing the literature on secret sharing, the need for support and the

cleansing of RQHVVRXODUHWKHlowest rated reasons on the list and do not appear to be

very important at all. These findings provide further evidence that for these online

influencers, secret sharing is a strategic decision rather than a form of self-therapy or

unburdening.

----------------------------- Insert table 2 about here

-----------------------------

Overall, our findings show that in contrast with the motives identified in the psychology

literature on secret sharing, most of the motives identified by these online influencers are

RWKHU-IRFXVHGDVRSSRVHGWREHLQJIRFXVHGRQWKHSHUVRQVKDULQJWKHVHFUHW7KHse

other-focused motives reveal a focus on the audience, and when we also consider that

most of the secret sharing content was about the self, we found that the strategies and

tactics used by our informants are consistent with a customer-centric approach to

personal brand building.

Emotional Outcomes of Secret Sharing

As mentioned previously, one of the key characteristics of a secret is that there are strong

emotions associated both with keeping the secret, as well as the potential outcomes from

disclosing it. Given that, we were interested in looking at the impact that secret-sharing

has on the online influencers themselves. As mentioned earlier, secret-sharing by online

influencers involves a tradeoff. Traditionally, there are barriers to secret sharing that

mostly revolve around a fear of disapproval or rejection (Kelly 1998; Kelly and McKillop


1996). In particular, we were interested in whether these influencers were worried about

potential disapproval from their readers upon sharing a secret.

However, what we find instead is that secret sharing by online influencers leads to a mix

of positive and negative emotions with positive emotions appearing to dominate. Across

fourteen emotions, we had the participants rate how they felt when they shared the secret

(5-point Strongly Disagree/Strongly Agree scale). The top emotions were pride

(M=3.89), anxiety (M=3.78), and content (M=3.67), followed by relieved (M=3.56),

excited (M=3.44), and pleased (M=3.44) respectively. Participants felt relatively no

shame (M=1.44), sadness (M=1.44), or embarrassment (M=2.11), emotions which are

sometimes associated with secret sharing (Manen and Levering, 1996; Newth and

Rachman, 2001). These results indicate that the influencers felt relatively good upon

sharing secrets with their audience, and there are very limited indications that secret

sharing among these influencers was emotionally taxing.

7DNLQJWKHVHILQGLQJVZLWKWKHEORJJHUVVWDWHGPRWLYHVIRUVHFUHWVKDULQJVXJJHVWVWKDW

these influencers feel as though they have helped their audience members and/or

increased trust with their audience through the process of secret sharing, both of which

further enhanced their personal brand.

Conclusion

Our exploratory study of secret sharing among online influencers reveals several key

findings. First, we are able to establish the prevalence of disclosure of intimate personal


information among online influencers. However, at the same time, there is relatively

limited self-reporting of ZKDWWKLVJURXSRILQIRUPDQWVFRQVLGHUHGsecret sharing. We

believe that because online influencers have a public persona, they have a higher bar for

what is considered to be a secret, and that the bar is constantly being raised as they

engage in intimate personal disclosures. However, longitudinal and more controlled

studies would be needed to provide more direct support for these conjectures

Second, we find that secret sharing among these influencers is a strategic and purposeful,

rather than accidental, brand building act. This conclusion is supported by our findings

that the secrets shared by these bloggers tend to be about the self and abstract objects and

not about others, perhaps because talking about others could be damaging to the

EORJJHUV personal brands. In addition, their motives for secret sharing are focused on

relationship development, authenticity, and providing novel information, rather than

UHFHLYLQJVXSSRUWRUFOHDQVLQJRQHVVRXOFinally, there appears to be low social or

emotional costs to secret sharing and the emotional outcomes are mostly positive.

We see some important differences between secret sharing among these online bloggers

versus what has been described in the secret sharing literature. First, the very

understanding of what kind of information might be considered a secret seems to differ in

this domain; the types of secrets that are shared are potentially more extreme, even

though the audience is much larger. In addition, the secrets are confined to certain topics

that help enhance the personal brand. Finally, the motives for sharing secrets appear to be

quite different in that there is much more of a focus on how the secret will help build a


relationship and less focus on self-related outcomes. In fact, it appears that bloggers use

secret sharing as one way of providing differentiated content and value to their

customers.

Our conclusions are limited by the methodology that we used in the study. First, we have

a small convenience sample of bloggers, who are just one type of online influencer.

Without the ability to probe, we were not able to get the depth of understanding on what a

secret means to these people and the risks associated with sharing secrets. We asked

people about why they share secrets, but did not ask questions about why they did not

share secrets. It is also possible that we are underestimating the prevalence of secret

sharing because these people live in the public eye and have a higher threshold for what

constitutes a secret. We hope that future research can illuminate these issues.

Finally, our methodology does not allow us to assess the outcomes associated with secret

sharing, limiting our ability to develop specific implications for bloggers. Anecdotally,

from our own observation of various blogs, posts that involve what can be construed as

secret sharing appear to get significant engagement including comments, questions, and

reciprocal secret sharing from audience members. In addition, the effectiveness of secret

sharing is likely to vary with the characteristics of the blog and, consequently, the

audience and our sample size does not allow for us to examine this issue. For example,

secret sharing is likely to be more effective in communally oriented blogs versus those

that are exchange oriented. Clearly, additional research is needed to better understand the


exact process through which secret sharing as a strategy helps with personal brand

building, relationship development, and gaining a loyal following.

7RVXPPDUL]HDNH\WREXLOGLQJRQHVRQOLQHEUDQGDQGIROORZLQJLVWRGHYHORSVWURQJ

relationships and provide unique content and value to the audience. Selective secret

sharing appears to be one approach that online influencers can use towards this goal. Our

hope is that this initial investigation into secret sharing spurs additional research on this

strategy, as well as on the broader phenomenon of online personal brand building.


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T A B L E 12.1 Mean ratings on use of communication strategies (n = 48)

MEAN STD . DEV.

* I provide my own personal viewpoint on topics of interest. 6.19 1.10 I respond personally to posts and questions. 5.83 1.48 ,WU\WREHDVUHVSRQVLYHDVSRVVLEOHWRP\DXGLHQFHVQHHGV 5.75 1.42 I disclose any incentives I may receive. 5.73 1.77 I look for new information to share. 5.67 1.52 I try to be objective. 5.50 1.73

* I disclose private and intimate details about my life. 5.08 1.87 * I reveal information about my personal life. 4.37 1.77 I share my emotions and feelings. 4.31 1.70

* I reveal information about my identity (such as where I live and work). 4.12 2.02

,SRVWDQGFRPPHQWRQRWKHUEORJJHUVVLWHV 3.77 2.13 I accept commercial incentives. 3.73 2.09

* I post pictures of myself and/or family. 3.04 1.75 Note: Measured on a 7-point scale from 1 = Never to 7 = Very Frequently.

T A B L E 12.2 Mean ratings of secret sharing motives (n = 9)

Mean To be authentic 6.44 To build a relationship with my audience 6.00 To be more closely connected to my audience 5.67 To express my feelings 5.56 To help my audience understand me better 4.78 To persuade or influence people 4.67 To gain new insights 4.56 To gain catharsis 4.11 To feel positive about myself 4.00 To feel better 3.78 To relieve stress 3.63 To reciprocate secret sharing by members of my audience 3.33 To get help or support 2.89 To cleanse my soul 2.67

Rated on a 7-point scale, with 1 = Not at all Important and 7 = Important. (n = 9)

bickart et al - social media brand following

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